Chapter 15
Jace came over within a matter of nine minutes. There was a slight knocking on my bedroom window, and normally, I would’ve freaked out, but I knew it was only Jace.
I quickly slid the window up for him to crawl in, wondering how the hell he managed to climb up to the second floor of my house. Jace had one foot in my room, and just as he was about to slip the other one in, he tripped against the window sill, toppling over my stature. My bottom came crashing onto the carpeting of my room as I fell back, squeezing my eyes shut. When I finally felt the impact of the fall, I opened my eyes, staring directly at Jace, who was just a few inches from my face. Jace’s hands were on either side of my head, and his legs were on either side of my lower half. Taking in a sharp breath of air, my eyes widened at how much this insanely awkward moment reminded me of what happened between Jace and I back at Ryan’s party.
“Everly,” Jace paused, his eyes scanning my face carefully in the dimly lit room from the moonlight peaking through the windows, “fuck, have you been crying?”
Jace snapped me back into reality as I pushed his body off of mine, sitting back up as I rubbed my back from the impact of the fall. “Jace, how the hell did you manage to trip?” I cursed, shaking my head. “Fuck, I’m going to feel that in my back tomorrow morning.”
Jace smirked as he inched closer to me with a suggestive grin. “Do you want me to rub it for you?”
A smile immediately cracked across my face as I gently pushed Jace’s shoulder. “Shut up, you big idiot.” I held back a chuckle. “I’m not in the mood to be laughing.”
Jace’s features immediately softened, a concerned expression overtaking his face. “Everly, what happened?” he asked softly, taking my hand into his. Jace laced our fingers together, his hand noticeably larger than mine. I stared down at our intertwined fingers for the longest time, loving the way his warm and soft palms made me feel protected and safe. “There’s got to be a reason why you called me this late at night.”
“I’m scared, Jace.” I admitted, feeling a weight being lifted off my shoulders. “I’m scared that I’m never going to be able to forgive my mother .I hate that I hate her because there are so many people that don’t have mothers, right? So I feel like such a selfish bitch for hating my mother, but I can’t forgive her. I don’t know when and if I can ever forgive her.” I let out a ragged breath, feeling my cheeks moisten. “Fuck, when will this end?”
Jace was silent for such a God damned long time. But suddenly, Jace’s grip on my hand tightened and he placed a kiss on the top of my head. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” Jace whispered into my head, wiping away a tear with his free hand. “John Lennon.”
*
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock blaring from my digital clock. I glanced over at the figure sleeping beside me, arms wrapped around my waist. Trying to make as little movement as possible, I pressed the ‘snooze’ button, not wanting to wake Jace up from his deep slumber. The clock read seven in the morning, the normal time that I’d wake up for school.
I looked back at Jace, who was gently breathing in the crook of my neck, sending shivers down my spine.
I decided to close my eyes and go back to sleep because I realized that I didn’t want to be anywhere but in Jace Wasson’s arms.
*
My phone rang on my nightstand approximately at twelve later that afternoon. Groaning, I pulled the phone against my left ear, my eyes still heavy and shut closed. “Hello?” I mumbled.
“Everly Winter, you must have a damn good reason as to why you aren’t in school right now.” Julianne’s voice powered through the phone, waking me up.
“What?” I sat up, rubbing my eyes.
I glanced over to the other side of my bed, noticing that it was empty. The sheets were wrinkled, but Jace was nowhere to be found.
“Did you know that Jace isn’t in school, either?” Julianne asked. I faintly heard Ryan’s voice in the background and the sounds of forks and knives clattering in the background. I assumed that the duo were currently at lunch as they called me. “Are you guys together? Did you and Jace decide to skip school without us?”
“We didn’t plan it.” I insisted. “Something happened last night and he just ended up staying the night-.”
“Holy shit.” Julianne interrupted me. “Jace stayed at your house last night?”
“Jace did what?” I heard Ryan asking in the back.
“Jace stayed at Everly’s house!” Julianne gasped before turning her attention back to me. “Crap, please tell me you guys used protection.”
I slapped my palm against my forehead as I turned red unknowingly. “God, no Julianne.” I snapped. “We didn’t use it because we didn’t need it!”
“Oh, so she’s on the pill?” I heard Ryan asking.
“No!” I protested, standing up on my feet now. “We didn’t do anything relating to-!”
Jace suddenly appeared by the frame of my door, his hair wet and the scent of my raspberry shampoo filling my room. “Relating to what?” he asked, running a towel through his hair.
“Fuck, we’re interrupting their morning sex, right?” Ryan asked.
“We are, aren’t we?” Julianne teased before she spoke up again quickly. “Sorry guys, we’ll hang up now. But be sure to use-!”
I hung up before Julianne even got to finish her sentence.
“What was that about?” Jace asked, perching himself on the bed beside me as our knees gently brushed against one another’s. I suddenly realized that I was wearing my pajama shorts, so my legs were bare against his.
“N-nothing.” I said immediately, feeling my cheeks flush.
Jace gave me a confused frown before nodding slowly. He gestured towards the towel that he threw over his shoulder. “I found a clean towel in your bathroom cabinet, if you don’t mind me using it.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine.” I paused, leaning closer to get a better whiff of his hair. “I see that you’ve used my shampoo, as well.”
Jace chuckled, shrugging. “I admit it; I was tempted to use it.” He smiled. “I’m finally glad I’ve discovered what makes your hair always smell so good.”
I released a fit of laughter as I began to tease Jace. “You’ve sniffed my hair before?”
Jace raised his hands up above his head, laughing. “Guilty.” As our laughter died down, Jace turned to look at me seriously before he offered me a gently smile. “Are you feeling better after yesterday?”
I bit my lip, nodding. “Yeah,” I paused, adding on, “thanks to you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” Jace’s voice lowered. “I’m just really glad that you aren’t as upset anymore. I’m also really glad that you called me.”
“I’m really glad that I called you, too.” I admitted. “I don’t think there’s anyone else that could’ve cheered me up the way you could.”
Jace’s eyes locked into mine as a faint smile brushed across his lips, which were soft and rosy, with a droplet of water on the bottom lip from his recent shower. Before I could stop myself, my fingers reached forward to brush away the speck of water on his bottom lip. My thumb brushed against Jace’s incredibly soft lips, sending shocks and leaving a tingly feeling on my skin.
I hadn’t realized it, but Jace had closed his eyes from the contact of my skin on his lips. “Everly.” he whispered, his voice ragged and out of breath, shaking my heart within. “I made breakfast downstairs.”
I snapped immediately back into reality as I snatched my finger away from Jace’s lips. I saw disappointment flashing through his eyes as I looked away with embarrassment. “O-Oh, breakfast?” I stuttered, rapidly getting up from the bed as I backed away from Jace, hitting my leg against the pole of my bed. Cursing under my breath, I gave Jace a nervous smile as he stared at me with concern. “Great, breakfast! Let me just go wash up real quick in the bathroom.”
I sprinted away from Jace as fast as I could, locking myself in the bathroom.
With shaky hands, I turned on the faucet of the skin, splashing cold water on my face.
Get a fucking hold of yourself, Everly.
I began to curse.
I wanted to scream and strangle someone.
I fucking like Jace Wasson.
*
“One hot chocolate please.” I ordered at Patisserie Café.
“That’ll be two dollars and fifty cents, but with a special friends and family discount,” Ryan paused, shooting me a grin, “your total comes out to be ten cents.”
I laughed, giving him a look before shaking my head. “Ryan, just let me pay the-.”
“Nope.” Ryan shook his head. “I refuse.”
I rolled my eyes before handing Ryan a ten dollar bill. In exchange, Ryan handed me back nine dollars and ninety cents. As Ryan left to go make my order, I slipped the change he had given me into his tip jar.
“That’s very nice of you.” A voice said from behind me. I turned around, locking eyes with Dr. Roberts’ as she held up a large hot coffee to her lips. “Hello, Everly. I didn’t know you come here often.”
“Dr. Roberts, hi!” I smiled. “I just started coming here recently. A friend of Julianne and mine runs this place with his family.”
Dr. Roberts nodded, smiling warmly. “That’s lovely. I’m glad to see that Julianne’s been making new friends. In fact, she seems a lot happier lately when we have our meetings.”
I raised an eyebrow and I couldn’t help but grin. “Really?” I asked excitedly. “She’s been getting better?”
Dr. Roberts nodded. ‘Much better.” She emphasized. “I haven’t been this much progress from her in a long time.”
I glanced over at Ryan, who was filling me up a cup of hot chocolate with one hand and spreading cream cheese on a bagel on the other hand for another customer. “Well, Julianne’s been hanging around a new friend lately.” I gestured over to Ryan, who caught my eye and waved at me quickly. “His name is Ryan.”
Dr. Roberts chuckled as she let out a squeal. “A boy?” she grinned. “That’s great! Julianne has been mentioning that she’s made a new friend but I didn’t suspect that it was a boy. Oh, no wonder why she turns red and giddy every time I bring him up.”
“Really?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure she likes him, but she would never admit it, not even to me.”
Dr. Robert suddenly stopped smiling as she glanced down at her coffee cup with her lips pressed into a thin line worriedly. “Does he know about Julianne’s depression?” she asked in a hushed tone.
My lips parted as I shook my head slowly. “No.” I sighed. “I’m pretty sure he’s heard rumors before from other students in school but I don’t think he knows exactly what’s going on with her.”
Dr. Roberts nodded. “Well, I have to get back to the office now.” She gave me a tight smile. “I don’t want to mention it to Julianne since she hasn’t brought up Ryan in any of our sessions yet, but if anything more happens between them, let her know that she should tell him before she gets hurt.”
I was astonished to find out that Dr. Roberts cared so much for Julianne. I honestly thought that Dr. Roberts only acted like she cared because Julianne’s parents paid her good money. However, upon finding out that Dr. Roberts actually cared about Julianne’s genuine feelings, my heart was swelled with warmth. “Thank you, Dr. Roberts.”